A warm Bowl of Prawn Curry for the Festive Weekend…

Today is the start of the long festive weekend with Dussera on Monday. Although this year the festive mood is little dampened with the ongoing pandemic but staying with the loved ones and having the meals together always feel special. So here is a quick and very very easy recipe for a sumptuous prawn malai curry that makes me feel at home. Also a quick disclaimer that the curry is actually a well known Bengali delicacy which seems pretty process intensive but actually is quite easy to make.

Ingredients:

• Large / Medium sized Prawn (500 gm) without shells
• Tomato (2 medium sized) -Finely chopped
• Onion (2 large) – Finely chopped
• Garlic (2 slices) – Finely chopped
• Ginger – Finely chopped
• Coconut Milk (1 cup)
• Turmeric Powder
• Salt

Spices :

• Cumin
• Bay leaves
• Cumin powder(2 tea spoon)
• Red chilli (dried)
• Kashmiri red chilli powder (for color)
• Garam Masala – whole spices

Garnishing:

• Green chilli (4)
• Ghee

Method :

1. First wash and clean the tiger prawns. Remove the intestine and the stomach and then marinate it with turmeric and salt. Keep it aside till we heat the oil.
2. Heat 2 table spoon of any type of vegetable oil and then leave the prawns in the pan and fry lightly (around 30-40 seconds) and then put them away in a separate bowl. Please remember to not fry them for longer otherwise they will just become chewy.
3. Now add the cumin, bay leaf, red chillies (whole), whole spices(cardamom, clove and cinnamon), green chillies and fry them in medium heat.
4. Now add the finely chopped onions (preferably make the onion paste in a grinder to make it smooth) and fry till it becomes golden brown. Then add the freshly made ginger garlic paste . I will suggest to avoid using the ones available in the market as they contain preservatives. Then add the finely chopped tomatoes/ tomato puree. Add Kashmiri red chilli powder and cumin powder for the rich color of the gravy. Stir and fry and make sure that the paste is not sticking at the bottom of the pan. Fry until you see the oil is separated from the mixture.
5. Then add the prawns in the paste and saute it for about 2 minutes. Now add 1 cup of boiled water with a hint of turmeric. Boil the mixture for 3-4 minutes.
6. Finally add 1 cup of coconut milk in the mixture and stir it for 1 minute. Then add 2 tablespoon of ghee, sugar and salt (taste wise) and stir it for just a minute. And the curry is ready!!